SV: Is Anybody Home?

[Travis Green]

Harrison and everyone,

Just this past Tuesday night I signed up on the OSLIST, so you can imagine my surprise the next day when I saw a number of emails from "Harrison Owen".  I thought to myself, "Damn, he is really intent on this list serve!", and then I giggled to myself.  It was a very auspicious sign for my first day participating in this OS community.

Your question and inquire around performance is interesting.  Personally, I don't experience many organizations that provide the space, infrastructure, or an  environment that nurtures "superior performance" that is sustainable and mutually benefit the individual and the whole.  One of the many things I appreciate about open space is the ability to allow people to engage with themselves internally and externally with people of "like minded" interests to create an atmosphere of collaboration.  Western Culture, specifically American culture, is very ingrained in individual performance.  For my experience and philosophy, "superior performance" comes from collective action.  The more we can recognize and connect superior performance to the characteristic and principles of a superior collective performance the more "We" can raise the bar of performance in organizations and communities.  I think we can share many stories and studies that illustrate that what is deemed "superior
 performance" is paradoxical in the larger picture of things.  For me, this topic can easily begins to blend with topics group effectiveness, systems thinking, collective consciousness, etc.

The bulk of my OST facilitation has been in an academic environment.  Overall, it has gone very well and is appreciated.  Some of the biggest insights I seen is the openness that OS provides for people to participate, the way OS has spread throughout the organization/community as method for engagement and community building, and the willingness of people from all over the community to step forward and host an open space.   What would happen if these characteristics where prevalent in our political system?  A much more participatory political process to start I would assume...

All thoughts and responses are welcomed and appreciated.

Cheers,
Travis

Harrison Owen wrote:
> Presumably, everybody is busy with useful stuff or just taking a nap
(:-)),
> but it seems a while since I heard from all my friends. Personally, I have
> come back south from my summer abode in Maine and have started on the
> Winter's chores. Not that it is really like work, but I find myself
thinking
> a lot about where OST has taken me. At the simplest level OST as become a
> marvelous natural experiment probing a very different understanding of the
> capacity of human beings for productive and fulfilling work, and the way
we
> might approach the work that we do. Several years ago I wrote a book, "The
> Practice of Peace," exploring the work of Peace Making. Currently on my
desk
> is another effort looking at the ways in which we have sub-optimized and
> underestimated the capacity for superior performance. Whether this
actually
> turns into a book or not, remains to be seen, but the interest is there.
And
> then there is the marvelous opportunity to do an OS with a large software
> company designing a new major product line. I think we could learn just
how
> ineffective we have been in this area, and how one might radically raise
the
> level of performance. And I am wondering what you may have discovered???
> 
> For example, we have used OST quite a bit in an educational environment
> apparently to good effect. But then my question is what have we learned
> about the nature of education and how we might do it better. And of
course,
> here in the US we are totally enmeshed in the Political Season and I
wonder
> what we may have learned about the political process, and how to do it
> better and more effectively. . . Just Wondering.
> 
> Harrison
> 
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Drive
> Potomac, Maryland   20854
> Phone 301-365-2093
> Skype hhowen
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com

> 
> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
> Personal website www.ho-image.com 
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TGreen Consulting
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